c/butchers

Almost lost a finger on a bandsaw last Thursday because of a dull blade

I was breaking down a side of beef and the blade started binding, then kicked back hard. Has anyone else had close calls with blades that should've been swapped out sooner?

Who else blew cash on a fancy knife that's worse than the old one?

I dropped $180 on a high-end German chef's knife from a catalog last month, and it arrived duller than my $30 Mercer I've had for 3 years. After 20 minutes of stropping and still not getting a good edge, I just went back to my old beat-up blade. How do these companies get away with selling overpriced junk to butchers like us?

Coworker insisted on breaking down a side of beef with a dull knife. Took twice as long and almost lost a finger.

Almost lost a hand to a dull bandsaw blade last Tuesday

I was pushing a leg of lamb through and the blade grabbed it instead of cutting. Threw the meat right back at me and the kickback nearly pinned my fingers. Has anyone else had close calls with old blades that you thought were fine?

Debate: Should you trim fat cap before or after hanging? I got totally different results on two deer last month.

I hung one buck with the fat cap on and one with it trimmed off, and the trimmed one dried out way faster but the fat-on one got this rancid smell after 10 days. Which way do you guys prefer for better aging without spoilage or drying?

That old timer who said stop trimming so much fat was right all along

An old butcher named Frank at the shop I trained at in Pittsburgh kept telling me to leave a quarter inch of fat on my steaks, but I thought he was just lazy. After three months of dry, tough cuts that customers complained about, I finally listened to him and my sales went up 20%. Anyone else have a stubborn mentor who turned out to be dead on?

Old timer at the shop warned me about cheap boning knives, I should have listened

Honestly, I bought a 3 pack of those $12 boning knives off Amazon last month. Old man Jerry at the shop told me they'd lose their edge after two pigs. He was dead right, the second hog I broke down felt like I was sawing through a tire with a butter knife. Never again, I'm going back to my Victorinox. Any of you guys got a cheap brand that actually surprised you?

Switched from a boning knife to a breaking knife for beef primals and my hand stopped hurting after 2 weeks

I've been breaking down subprimals for about 8 years now, mostly at a small shop in Des Moines. Always used a 6 inch curved boning knife for everything, even stripping beef loins and ribs. After a 12 hour shift my wrist and knuckles would ache for days. Tried taking breaks, stretching, nothing helped. Then a old timer at a trade show told me to try a 10 inch breaking knife for the bigger cuts. Picked up a Victorinox one for like 35 bucks. First week I felt clumsy, kept going back to my boner. But I forced myself to stick with it. After about 2 weeks, no more hand pain at the end of the day. The longer blade just lets you cut with less effort, especially on those thick fat caps. Anyone else switch knives later in their career and notice a big difference in fatigue?

Just spent 4 hours fixing a grinder plate that should have taken 20 minutes

I was breaking down a half beef yesterday and my #32 grinder started putting out mushy meat instead of clean grind. Figured it was the plate, so I pulled it and sharpened it flat on a stone like always. No change. Then I checked the knife and it looked fine. After two more hours of messing with alignment and swapping parts, I finally noticed the plate had a tiny burr on the back edge from when I dropped it last week. That little lip was catching the meat fibers. Does anyone else run into these dumb hidden problems that eat up your whole day, or is it just me being slow?

Finally figured out why my venison trim kept turning into mush during grinding

Been hunting and processing my own deer for about 5 years now. Every time I'd grind the trim for burger or sausage the texture was always off. Too soft, almost like paste. Tried different grinder plates, colder temps, nothing fixed it. A old timer at the local butcher shop saw me complaining about it while buying pork fat and told me I was overworking the meat before it even hit the grinder. He watched me trim once and said I was cutting the silver skin into tiny pieces instead of just leaving it on and trimming it off whole. Those little silverskin bits were getting wrapped around the blade and smearing the meat instead of cutting it. Spent 3 hours this past Saturday trimming a whole buck with that in mind and the grind came out perfect. Still had to add some pork fat but it actually looked like ground meat instead of baby food. Anybody else deal with this or am I the only one who missed this basic stuff?

Noticed a HUGE difference in my knife edge after switching to a 1000 grit stone

I used a pull-through sharpener for 2 years and wondered why my cuts were rough, then I spent 3 weeks with a proper whetstone and my steaks come out 30% cleaner now - has anyone else seen that big a jump just from changing how you sharpen?

Figured deboning a whole lamb shoulder would take 20 minutes. Took me 2 hours.

I had a customer special order a whole lamb shoulder boneless and rolled. Thought I'd breeze through it like a pork shoulder. Nope. Hit a weird tendon network near the blade bone that took forever to work around without trashing the meat. Has anyone else found lamb shoulders way harder than they look on YouTube?

My band saw blade snapped mid-slice on a whole pig yesterday

I was breaking down a 180 pound hog yesterday morning, right in the middle of splitting the spine, and SNAP. The blade let go and whipped around inside the saw. Scared the crap out of me. Took me 20 minutes to fish the broken pieces out and swap in a new one. Anyone else had a blade blow up at the worst possible moment?

Remember when we actually got whole carcasses delivered?

Last week I got a box of pre-portioned steaks and the marbling was all wrong. Miss the days when the truck showed up with a side of beef and I could break it down the way I wanted. Any other old timers miss working whole animals?

Found a 40% yield difference on pork shoulders last month

Was breaking down a case of shoulders for sausage and noticed one batch had way more fat cap than another. Weighed the trim and it came out to about 40% yield difference between suppliers. Has anyone else tracked this kind of variation?

That one customer who asked for a 'custom cut' and then argued with me for 10 minutes

Had a guy come in last Saturday wanting a 2-inch thick ribeye, then said it was too small when I handed it to him. He kept saying 'but I wanted the big one' while pointing at a 3-inch roast sitting next to it. Has anyone else had a customer completely ignore what they asked for and blame you?

Finally broke 500 pounds of trim in a single shift and my wrist is screaming

Honestly I've been at this shop for two years and never hit that mark before, but yesterday our main grinder went down and I had to hand trim everything for a big wholesale order. Has anyone else noticed their hands cramp up way worse when you're rushing through a huge batch like that?

Old timer at the shop told me to let beef hang longer, I was skeptical

There's this guy named Joe who's been cutting meat for 40 years at the shop down the street from me in Cleveland. I always thought I knew better with my modern methods. He told me last month that I was rushing my ribeyes, that I needed to let the whole primal hang for at least 28 days instead of my usual 21. I figured he was just stuck in his old ways. But after I tried it on a single order for a customer, the marbling broke down way nicer and the flavor was noticeably deeper. The customer even came back asking where I got that specific batch from. I guess I owe Joe an apology. Has anyone else here had an older butcher school them on something they thought they had figured out?

Just found out why my pork shoulder always came out dry

I was reading through an old meat science textbook my uncle gave me and found out that collagen breaks down at 160F, not 165F like I always assumed. That extra 5 degrees of overcooking was ruining my pulled pork for 3 years. Any of you guys actually temp your shoulders at 160 or do you go higher?

Hot take: I was dead wrong about electric knives

Back in '08 at my shop in Portland, I swore a hand-powered breaking knife was the only way to go for breaking down beef quarters. A young guy brought in an electric model from a trade show and I laughed at it, but after watching him do 30 minutes of work in 15 with way less strain on his wrist, I had to eat my words. Anyone else had a tool they dismissed that turned out to be a game changer?

Stop trimming the fat cap off brisket like it's a competition

I watched three guys at the shop last Saturday shave a packer brisket down to a quarter inch cap before smoking. That fat cap is your insulation, you strip it thin and you get a dry flat every time. Why are we trying to win a beauty contest when the meat needs to eat?

Old timer told me I was taking too much fat off the ribeye caps and it cost me flavor not money

I always trimmed them clean for looks until a 30 year vet at the shop in Austin said I was throwing away the best part, now I leave a solid quarter inch on and customers actually come back asking for more, has anyone else had that kind of feedback change how they cut a specific primal?

I was trimming brisket wrong for like 8 years before a guy at a shop in Austin set me straight

Been doing briskets since I started at my first shop in 2017 and always trimmed the fat cap down to a quarter inch flat across the whole thing. Then last month some old timer at Lockhart Smokehouse watched me working and said 'you're leaving all the good stuff on the table.' He showed me how the fat cap is thicker on one end and you gotta follow the muscle shape instead of making it look like a brick. Now my burnt ends actually come out right instead of drying out on one side. Any of yall learned a basic trick way later than you should have?

Debate: Old school bone saw vs the new band saws at a shop in Portland yesterday got me thinking

I watched an old guy break down a side of beef in 8 minutes with a handsaw while the kid next to him took 15 with a fancy band saw, so which method actually keeps the meat cleaner and wastes less?

Stuck having to re-trim a whole lamb shoulder cause the new guy messed it up

Last Tuesday, my new trainee decided to 'save time' and cut a lamb shoulder his own way. Left a ton of silver skin and hacked the bone clean off. I had to spend an extra 45 minutes fixing it before the lunch rush hit. Anyone else deal with trainees who think they know better than the standard cut?